Frozen Shoulder Medication

Can medication ease the pain of a frozen shoulder? Does medication work well in frozen shoulder cases?

What can medication achieve?
Medication is intended to relieve the pain of frozen shoulder. It will make no impact on the stiffness and will not alter the timescale until recovery. It is simply intended to make you feel better and more functional while nature works away inside to resolve the underlying problem.

What's available?
The possible range of options when it comes to frozen shoulder medication treatment is very large. Some people simply purchase simple painkiller drugs over the pharmacy counter. Others obtain medication on prescription from their doctor. As a general rule you should aim for the level of painkiller that gives you comfort and decent function without causing intolerable side effects.

In my experience, it's always a tradeoff; a compromise between the level of pain relief obtained and the severity of the drug side effects.

Does frozen shoulder medication work?
Yes, but only up to a point. If you have a frozen shoulder in the freezing or thawing stage then you might well be able to find a decent level of pain relief and function from relatively mild analgesia. If you are in the frozen stage then unfortunately the level of painkiller required is likely to sedate or constipate you (to mention only two of a whole range of other problematic side effects!)

Which frozen shoulder medications are best?
There is no hard and fast rule about this - it's pretty much "horses for courses" depending on what works with you. Personally I tend to avoid giving my frozen shoulder patients anti-inflammatory drugs because I don't think they are any more effective than simple painkillers and they have the potential to cause much more serious side effects. Your own doctor might have a different view - discuss it with him or her.

Other Frozen Shoulder Pages on this site:

What is frozen shoulder?
Who gets frozen shoulder pain?
Diabetics and frozen shoulder pain
Diagnosing frozen shoulder
Frozen Shoulder Investigations
Tips for living with shoulder pain and frozen shoulder
Treating frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder injection
Frozen shoulder therapy
Acupuncture for frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder surgery
Alternative treatments for frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder medication
Recovery from frozen shoulder

Index of Painful Shoulder Conditions